Brand visuals

WYSIWYG 1Q2026

Brand visuals: We’ve refreshed some assets (logo, cover/header images). Most of you have probably noticed already. We’re just here to confirm it.

NB: this is a duplicate post. Original is here.

Brand status

Trademark(TM) registration

Earlier this year (2024) our initial TM registration for DACBARBOS brand, expired. For the record, the brand was registered at Romania’s state authority, OSIM. As a result, there was a short window of time, during which, it could have been (theoretically) hijacked. The situation was addressed via a new registration submission, already on record (under review). Its current status can be verified online at OSIM Trademarks Register.

NB: this is a duplicate post. Original is here.

Skype for Linux Updates

DEB and RPM package updates were discontinued by Microsoft.
You won’t get anything past 2023 through the legacy repositories.
Latest releases are now published in Canonical’s Snap Store, here.

NB: I noticed this a while back but already forgotten about it due to Skype’s continuous decline in popularity. I don’t like to insist on changing other people’s mind about what to use (or not to use). If Skype is their preferred video-call app, let it be. I will respect their choice. In the end it’s all about who needs who.

Domain change

Update(s) on this.topic

Our main Internet domain is changing this year. dacbarbos.info is set to expire on 2024-05-02 and no further renewal is planned. dacbarbos.eu is the new official domain for our brand. Going forward, only two domains shall remain active: dacbarbos.eu and wot.ro. We added a shared status page for both, accesible via their respective status subdomain.

NB: this is a duplicate post. Original is here.

Note to Self: ABCs of the Internet

These are some key concepts one must learn on its life-long learning journey.

A Special-Use Domain Names (IANA)

B Updates to the Special-Purpose IP Address Registries (RFC6890)

C .ARPA Zone Management (IANA)

As personal cherry-picks, these concepts exemplify the intricacies outlined in the ever-growing collection of RFCs (the number is set to surpass 10 000 by next year). Understanding these ABCs will smooth the path to one’s next practical application.

Notes on Windows Desktop

This post is primarily meant as a #NoteToSelf for future reference. Whether with the occasion of a distant HW refresh of my PC or simply during a fresh SW (re)install/(re)build, I shall reuse this knowledge gathered over the last 2-3 years of sporadic Windows 10/11 desktop use. Looking back in time, when Windows 95 brought a new look and feel to the Windows desktop, things were a lot simpler. Fast forward to 2023, it’s a totally different story in terms of apps/tools one should know or care about. My hope is that other fellow geeks and/or friends might find these notes useful.

C:\Users\geek>
#################################################################
# msstore: CrystalDiskMark, DevToys, HashMe, Mastodon, Messenger,
# msstore: Move Mouse, Rufus, Sysinternals Suite, tldraw, Wintoys
# msstore: Windows File Recovery [aka.ms/winfrhelp], AV1, HEIF...
# sysinternals: few manifests for winget, all/most on scoop repo
# themes: Dark Skies by Tracy Hymas, Light and Dark by Nick Boyer
#################################################################
## Install PyEnv, Python, wsl2, Ansible, pre-commit, s3cmd
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser # PowerShell
Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing -Uri "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pyenv-win/pyenv-win/master/pyenv-win/install-pyenv-win.ps1" -OutFile "./install-pyenv-win.ps1"; &"./install-pyenv-win.ps1"
# open https://github.com/pyenv-win/pyenv-win/blob/master/docs/installation.md#add-system-settings
pyenv install 3.7.9 		# powercli
pyenv install 3.9.9 		# newish
pyenv update            	# refresh
pyenv install 3.11.5 	# newer
pyenv global 3.11.5 	# set
#pyenv local --unset
#pyenv shell --unset
wsl --install
wsl --version
wsl --update
wsl --list --online
wsl --install -d ubuntu
#################################################################
# open https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/wsl-config
# cat /etc/wsl.conf
[automount]
enabled=true
[boot]
systemd=true
[interop]
enabled=false
appendWindowsPath=false
#################################################################
# open http://tiny.cc/ornbvz && https://bit.ly/3FTT2qU
# run next commands on wsl (due to above reasons)
python3 -m pip install --user --upgrade pip
python3 -m pip install --user --upgrade ansible
python3 -m pip install --user --upgrade argcomplete
# open https://docs.python.org/3/library/site.html
python3 -m site 		# beware of the paths
pyenv which ansible     # NO ansible.exe (!)
ansible --version       	# you may exit wsl
python3 -m pip install pre-commit
pre-commit --version
python3 -m pip install s3cmd
s3cmd --configure
### Useful winget commands
winget install --id Adobe.Acrobat.Reader.64-bit 		# must have || DC@msstore
winget install --id Amazon.AWSCLI 					# awscli, optional, devops
winget install --id Amazon.SessionManagerPlugin 		# awscli, optional, devops
winget install --id Amazon.SAM-CLI 					# awscli, optional, devops
winget install --id Anaconda.Miniconda3 				# optional, devops
winget install --id angryziber.AngryIPScanner 			# must have, netintel
winget install --id argoproj.argocd 						# GitOps for k8s, optional
winget install --id Apache.DirectoryStudio 				# LDAP client, optional
winget install --id Audacity.Audacity 					# audio editor, should have || scoop
winget install --id Azul.Zulu.8.JDK 						# (compat) || scoop bucket add java
winget install --id BelledonneCommunications.Linphone # VoIP client, optional
winget install --id BlenderFoundation.Blender 		# optional || msstore || scoop
winget install --id Canva.Canva 						# optional || msstore
winget install --id chrisant996.Clink 					# spice up cmd shell, yes && clink autorun -h
winget install --id ChristianHohnstadt.xca 				# optional, pki, x509
winget install --id dbeaver.dbeaver 					# SQL client, optional, devops
# NB: more to choose from at www.nerdfonts.com/font-downloads || scoop bucket add nerd-fonts
winget install --id DEVCOM.JetBrainsMonoNerdFont # jb-mono-NF, should have one
winget install --id direnv.direnv 						# dir auto-env, optional
winget install --id Docker.DockerCLI 					# good to have (podman-desktop/issues/4696)
winget install --id Docker.DockerCompose 			# good to have, devops
winget install --id dotPDNLLC.paintdotnet 			# must have || GIMP.GIMP
winget install --id FarManager.FarManager 			# must have, mc4win
winget install --id Git.Git 								# must have, git-scm
winget install --id GitHub.cli # await scoop (fq,jq) 		# should have, gh
## gh extension install korosuke613/gh-user-stars ^-^ 	# if deps were met
## gh extension install joaom00/gh-b 					# branch mgmt (gh b)
## gh extension install github/gh-copilot 				# explain, suggest
## gh extension install github/gh-skyline 				# 3D contribution graph
winget install --id GitHub.GitLFS 						# large file storage
winget install --id GnuPG.Gpg4win 					# must have, yes
winget install --id GoLang.Go 							# should have || goenv
## go install github.com/sibprogrammer/xq@latest 	# xq/issues/30, should have
winget install --id Google.Chrome 						# must have, browser
winget install --id Google.CloudSDK 					# optional, devops
winget install --id Google.Terraformer 					# optional, IaC
winget install --id Graphviz.Graphviz 					# graph visualization || scoop
winget install --id Gyan.FFmpeg 						# video(s)++ || scoop
winget install --id HandBrake.HandBrake 				# optional || scoop
winget install --id Hashicorp.Terraform 				# IaC || tfenv ; pip3 install checkov
winget install --id HTTPie.HTTPie 						# optional, devops
winget search terraform 								# find more IaC tools
winget install --id Inkscape.Inkscape 					# should have || msstore
winget install --id JGraph.Draw 						# draw.io, diagrams.net
winget install --id karakun.OpenWebStart 				# should have (for Java apps)
winget install --id Keybase.Keybase 					# crypto.im
winget install --id KeePassXCTeam.KeePassXC 			# must have
winget install --id lsd-rs.lsd 							# ls -deluxe
winget install --id MarekJasinski.FreeCommanderXE # should have
winget install --id Meld.Meld 							# should have, windiff || scoop
winget search "Microsoft.Azure" 						# find more CLIs
winget install --id Microsoft.AzureCLI 					# mscli, optional, devops
winget install --id Microsoft.Bicep 						# msIaC, optional, devops
winget install --id Microsoft.Coreutils					# must have, devops, sysops
winget install --id Microsoft.DotNet.Runtime.8            	# should have, latest/LTS
winget install --id Microsoft.DotNet.SDK.8 				# should have, latest/LTS
winget install --id Microsoft.Git 						# msfork, optional
winget install --id Microsoft.NuGet 					# pkgmgr, should have
winget install --id Microsoft.OneDrive 					# must have, cloud drive
winget install --id Microsoft.OpenJDK.21         			# should have, latest
winget install --id Microsoft.PowerShell 				# should have, latest
winget install --id Microsoft.SBOMTool           			# optional, devops || scoop
winget install --id Microsoft.Skype 			    			# optional, VoIP || msstore
winget install --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode 			# obvious, should have
winget install --id Microsoft.VCRedist.2015+.x86 		# 32-bit, should have
winget install --id Microsoft.VCRedist.2015+.x64 		# 64-bit, should have
winget install --id Microsoft.WinDbg 					# optional, should have
winget install --id Microsoft.WindowsTerminal 		# must have || msstore
winget install --id Microsoft.WingetCreate 				# optional, devops
winget install --id MongoDB.MongoDBAtlasCLI 		# optional, devops
winget install --id MoritzBunkus.MKVToolNix 			# optional || msstore || scoop
winget install --id Mozilla.Firefox 						# must have, browser
winget install --id Mozilla.SOPS 						# secrets, should have
winget install --id MSYS2.MSYS2 						# update-core && pacman -Suu
winget install --id Ninja-build.Ninja 					# optional, devops
winget install --id Notepad++.Notepad++ 				# must have, yes
winget install --id Nushell.Nushell 						# smart shell, optional
winget install --id OpenWhisperSystems.Signal 		# crypto.im, should have
winget install --id PuTTY.PuTTY 						# must have || NoMoreFood.PuTTY-CAC
winget install --id PortSwigger.BurpSuite.Community # optional, netintel
winget install --id qBittorrent.qBittorrent 				# optional, forget uTorrent
winget install --id RaspberryPiFoundation.RaspberryPiImager # optional, random
winget install --id RedHat.Podman 					# containers, should have
winget install --id RedHat.Podman-Desktop 			# containers, should have
winget install --id RedHat.VirtIO						# guest VM drivers, should have
winget install --id Rclone.Rclone 						# optional, maybe
winget install --id rhysd.actionlint 						# optional, fyi || scoop
winget install --id SaltStack.SaltMinion 				# optional, fyi
winget install --id Starship.Starship 					# prompt++, fya || scoop
winget install --id StephanDilly.gitui 					# optional, fya || scoop
winget install --id StrawberryPerl.StrawberryPerl 		# should have || plenv
winget install --id Telegram.TelegramDesktop 			# crypto.im, should have || msstore
winget install --id TheDocumentFoundation.LibreOffice # must have || scoop
winget install --id Twilio.Authy 						# should have, desktop 2fa/mfa
winget install --id WhatsApp.WhatsApp 				# crypto.im, should have || msstore
winget install --id Winamp.Winamp 					# optional, audio player
winget install --id WinSCP.WinSCP 						# must have || msstore
winget install --id YS-L.csvlens 							# cli csv viewer, should have
winget ls --scope user |sort /M 8192 /O winget_%username%.txt # what do we have so far? winget-cli/issues/1155
#winget upgrade -uhr [--accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements] # obvious, all
### Install Scoop 		    			# more info at scoop.sh
# NB: below setting is wanted by "scoop checkup" so better set it in advance...
reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem /v LongPathsEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser # PowerShell
irm get.scoop.sh | iex 				# official install method
## Install Volta 						# more info at volta.sh
scoop update 						# obvious, self
scoop install volta 					# action/task
#scoop update -a 					# obvious, all
## Install Node 					# more info at nodejs.org
volta install node 					# latest LTS is default
volta install npm 					# standard node pkg mgr
volta install pnpm 					# more info at pnpm.io
volta install yarn 					# more info at yarnpkg.com
volta install deno 					# more info at deno.com
volta install did-cli 					# optional, decentralized IDs
volta install jsonld 					# optional, good to have (dev)
volta install jsonld-cli 				# optional, good to have (dev)
volta install @pnp/cli-microsoft365 # optional, good to have (cli)
volta list >volta_%username%.txt 	# what do we have so far?
## Install extra tools 				# yes, please do so :-)
scoop bucket add extras 			# age,pasteboard,sfsu are in this.repo
scoop bucket list 					# expected repos present?: main,extras
scoop status 						# is everything else ok?
scoop install 7zip 					# file arc/comp/decompress
scoop install age 					# file enc/decrypt utility
scoop install ant 					# optional, java, devops
scoop install base64 				# part of coreutils (see winget)
scoop install dufs 					# optional, file server
scoop install fq 					# optional, jq for binnaries
scoop install fzf 					# fuzzy finder used by gh user-stars ext
scoop install glab 					# gitlab's official cli client
#scoop install graphviz 			# graph visualization || winget
scoop install helm helmfile 		# k8s chart(s) tools
scoop install hostctl 				# local hosts file mgmt
scoop install ipinfo-cli 				# network intelligence
scoop install jenv 					# should have, JRE/JDK mgr
# NB: prefer scoop over winget for jq aka jqlang.jq (keep it simple)
scoop install jc jo jp jq jx 			# must have j[?] tools
scoop install jqp 					# optional, gojq with a TUI
scoop install kind 					# good to have (Podman-Desktop|Kind)
scoop install kubectl 				# k8s systems mgmt cli
scoop install krew 					# kubectl plugin manager
scoop install maven 				# should have, java, devops
scoop install micro 				# console text editor (nano4win)
scoop install minikube 			# minimal k8s system || kind bit.ly/3rrQjBm
scoop install minisign 				# file crypto signer, good to have (dev)
scoop install mkcert 				# internal CA/certs, good to have (dev)
scoop install osv-scanner 			# scan for oss sec vulns
scoop install q-dns 				# network intelligence
scoop install sfsu					# stupid fast scoop utils
scoop install tflint tfsec 			# terraform extras
scoop install ugrep 				# must have grep4win
scoop install win-acme 			# should have, ACMEv2 client
scoop install yq 					# jq for YAML
scoop list >scoop_%username%.txt # what do we have so far?
# .NET
dotnet tool install --global wix
wix --version 						# https://wixtoolset.org
									# alternative: scoop info dark
# QEMU & Friends
https://www.qemu.org
https://libguestfs.org
https://libvirt.org
https://qemu.weilnetz.de/w64/
winget install --id SoftwareFreedomConservancy.QEMU || scoop
#https://github.com/cloud-hypervisor/edk2/releases/latest > CLOUDHV.fd
# QEMU-GUI
https://github.com/Tech-FZ/EmuGUI
https://github.com/ispras/qemu-gui
#open https://bit.ly/3N3sqY6
#scoop install qtemu # extras
# Raw vs Qcow2 + conversions
https://www.vinchin.com/en/blog/raw-vs-qcow2.html
https://docs.openstack.org/image-guide/convert-images.html
# VirtIO-Win
https://virtio-fs.gitlab.io
https://wiki.qemu.org/Features/VirtIORNG
https://wiki.qemu.org/Features/VirtioSCSI
https://access.redhat.com/solutions/1758693
https://github.com/virtio-win/virtio-win-pkg-scripts
https://fedorapeople.org/groups/virt/virtio-win/direct-downloads/
# Windows guest drivers
https://www.linux-kvm.org/page/WindowsGuestDrivers
# Windows spice-webdavd + vdagent
https://www.spice-space.org/download/windows/spice-webdavd/
https://www.spice-space.org/download/windows/vdagent/
# Win11 as guest (tips & tricks)
https://kevinlocke.name/bits/2021/12/10/windows-11-guest-virtio-libvirt/
https://blogs.oracle.com/virtualization/post/install-microsoft-windows-11-on-virtualbox
# VMware PowerCLI
PS C:\Users\geek> Install-Module -Name VMware.PowerCLI -Scope CurrentUser
NuGet provider is required to continue
PowerShellGet requires NuGet provider version '2.8.5.201' or newer to interact with NuGet-based repositories. The NuGet
 provider must be available in 'C:\Program Files\PackageManagement\ProviderAssemblies' or
'C:\Users\geek\AppData\Local\PackageManagement\ProviderAssemblies'. You can also install the NuGet provider by
running 'Install-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -MinimumVersion 2.8.5.201 -Force'. Do you want PowerShellGet to install
and import the NuGet provider now?
[Y] Yes  [N] No  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "Y"): N
Install-Module : NuGet provider is required to interact with NuGet-based repositories. Please ensure that '2.8.5.201'
or newer version of NuGet provider is installed.
# Install/Update Mandy (hugo alternative)
iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString(’https://angeldollface.art/mandys-house/installers/win_64.ps1’))
# device portal
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/debug-test-perf/device-portal-ssl
# shall you need/want Ruby
https://github.com/nak1114/rbenv-win#installation
# [Ad-hoc] network services (tftp, dhcp, dns)
https://github.com/PJO2/tftpd64/
https://sourceforge.net/projects/tftp-server/
https://sourceforge.net/projects/dhcpserver/
https://sourceforge.net/projects/dhcp-dns-server/
# My favfonts:
https://www.programmingfonts.org/#anonymous-pro
https://www.programmingfonts.org/#code-new-roman
https://www.programmingfonts.org/#gnu-freefont
https://www.programmingfonts.org/#go-mono
https://www.programmingfonts.org/#monoid
https://www.programmingfonts.org/#redhat
# Misc
curl cht.sh
curl ip.me
curl ip.wtf
curl wttr.in
curl ysap.sh

The Three Musketeers (in AAA)

I still like to use the triple A acronym due to its simplicity (!). Not easy to forget. In the context of this post I will state that AAA = Authentication and Authorization. For the sake of accuracy I will also point you to the exact meaning as explained by Techopedia.

Nowadays with the cloud and as-a-service (aaS) paradigm, web2.0, web3.0 applications, APIs, services and/or microservices there comes the three musketeers (in AAA). Everybody heard of them, heck, some (if not all) webdevs are in a close friendship relation with these three musketeers.

Without further due, let’s introduce them: OpenID, OAuth and SAML. Well, yes we did hear about them but why are so important to worth writing this article? Even though they fight for the same cause, each one is doing it in its very own way and a lot of confusion happens. Here I share for myself and others some good resources to explore and help lift the confusion:

If you mention the names of our three musketeers on YouTube, you will be rewarded with some nice videos like this.

Blue-Ray and Linux

Yet another sad story, maybe one of the reasons I prefer macOS (formerly OS X) as my primary OS. This post is more like a note to self. Hopefully things will change for the better one day. Today the “options” are quite limited:

  1. MakeMKV
  2. AACS keys

Even though this is a mini article, I do anticipate some hits due to normal interest on the topic. Of course there is a 3rd option: just buy an external full featured BD player device.

Kernel and WiFi

Not always a success story. Since this is a work in progress kind of thing (I currently struggle with it), I will be very brief. I hit some issues (instability) on a brand new laptop using Debian derivate distro (both Ubuntu and Mint). I had a bit of comfort seeing that I’m not alone. The exact error and similar symptoms are to be found here. It seems to be either firmware or adapter settings related. I noticed that on Intel’s page there is a newer version of iwlwifi-3160-ucode-25.30.14.0.tgz versus iwlwifi-3160-ucode-16.242414.0.tgz on Linux Kernel’s page. I will follow this lead for the moment. If I feel that I need to spend too much time with it, I’m going to take more radical measures (install something else).

Update (5 min later):

It seems that version I downloaded from Intel’s page loads without problem.

dacbarbos@dacairone:~$ journalctl -b | grep firmware
iun 18 11:57:34 dacairone kernel: iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: loaded firmware version 25.30.14.0 op_mode iwlmvm
iun 18 11:57:36 dacairone NetworkManager[757]: <info> [1466240256.3999] manager[0x10721a0]: monitoring kernel firmware directory ‘/lib/firmware’.
iun 18 11:57:55 dacairone org.freedesktop.fwupd[741]: (fwupd:1955): Fu-WARNING **: Failed to coldplug: UEFI firmware updating not supported
dacbarbos@dacairone:~$